真木の上に降り置ける雪のしくしくも
思ほゆるかもさ夜問へ我が背
思ほゆるかもさ夜問へ我が背
- Roma-ji
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Maki no ue ni furiokeru yuki no shikushiku mo omooyuru kamo sayo toe waga se
- English Translation
-
On the fine cedars
like the snow that settles there,
layer on layer,
so do thoughts of you come on:
come to me tonight, my love
- Meaning
- Like the snow piling layer on layer upon the fine cedars, thoughts of you come to me again and again; come to me tonight, my love.
- Commentary
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Book Eight Winter Love Poems 1659
Headnote: "A poem by Osada no Hirotsu no Otome"
Like snow piling layer upon layer on the fine cedars, thoughts of her beloved come again and again, and she invites him to visit her tonight. Laying the heaping of longing over the heaping of snow, she closes with a frank invitation.
The author, Osada no Hirotsu no Otome, is a woman about whom little is known.
The first line means "upon the fine trees such as cedar and cypress."
The second line, with an extra syllable, means "of the snow that has settled," and the first two lines form a preface leading to "shikushiku."
The third line means "again and again, without cease," linking the layers of snow with the layers of longing. Kawabe no Azumahito's 1440 in this book also sings of spring rain "falling on and on," "shikushiku."
The fourth line, with the spontaneous "yu" and exclamatory "kamo," says that he comes unbidden to mind, and the poem pauses here.
The final line, with the imperative "toe," invites him to visit tonight, closing with the address "my love."
- Author
- Osada no Hirotsu no Otome
- Source
- Manyoshu
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